The Chicago Cubs are a professional baseball team based in Chicago, Illinois. The Cubs are members of the National League (NL) Central Division in Major League Baseball (MLB). In baseball, the head coach of a team is called the manager, or more formally, the field manager. The duties of the team manager include team strategy and leadership on and off the field.[1][2] Since their inception as the White Stockings in 1876, the Cubs have employed 61 managers.[3] The franchise's first manager was Baseball Hall of Famer Albert Spalding, who helped the White Stockings become the first champions of the newly formed National League.[4]

After co-managing with Silver Flint during the 1879 Chicago White Stockings season, Hall of Famer Cap Anson began an 18-year managerial tenure in 1880, the longest in franchise history.[3] Under Anson, the team won five more NL pennants — in 1880, 1881, 1882, 1885 and 1886—tying the 1885 World Series and losing the 1886 World Series in the process.[a] Anson won 1,283 games as the White Stockings' manager, the most in franchise history.[3] After taking over for Hall of Fame manager Frank Selee in 1905, Frank Chance — another Hall of Famer — managed the team through the 1912 season.[3] During his tenure, the franchise won four more NL pennants in 1906, 1907, 1908, and 1910, winning its only two World Series titles in 1907 and 1908 until 2016[5] Chance's .664 career winning percentage is the highest of any Cubs manager.[3] After Chance, from 1913 through 1960, the Cubs employed nineteen managers, nine of which were inducted into the Hall of Fame. During this period, the Cubs won six more NL pennants, including three under manager Charlie Grimm. Split between Grimm's two managerial stints in the 1930s and 1940s, plus a brief appearance as manager in 1960,[6] Grimm accumulated 946 career wins, second-most in franchise history behind Anson.[3]

Owner P. K. Wrigley then began experimenting with the managerial position and in December 1960, announced that Cubs would not have only one manager for the coming season. Instead, the team implemented a new managerial system known as the "College of Coaches." The system was meant to blend ideas from several individuals instead of relying on one manager.[7] During its first year, the team rotated four managers into the role: Vedie Himsl, Harry Craft, El Tappe and Lou Klein. The next year, under the guidance of Tappe, Klein and Charlie Metro, the Cubs lost a franchise-record 103 games.[8] Bob Kennedy managed the team for the next three seasons until Hall of Famer Leo Durocher assumed the managerial role for the 1966 season, effectively ending the five-year-long "College of Coaches" experiment.[7] During his first season as manager, Durocher's Cubs tied the franchise's 103-game loss record set four years earlier by the "College;"[8] however, he maintained a winning record for the rest of his seven-year tenure.[9]

In the 42 seasons after Durocher, the Cubs employed 25 managers. Jim Frey and Don Zimmer led the team to the National League Championship Series (NLCS) in 1984 and 1989, respectively.[3] In both of those seasons, the team's manager won a Manager of the Year Award.[10] Jim Riggleman managed the team for five years from 1995 through 1999, earning the team's first wild card playoff spot in 1998. Dusty Baker's Cubs lost in the 2003 NLCS during the first year of a four-year managing tenure. Baker's successor, Lou Piniella, led the team to two consecutive National League Central titles during his first two years with the team and won the 2008 Manager of the Year Award.[10] During the 2010 season, Piniella announced his intention to retire as manager at the end of the year. He instead resigned after a game in August, however, citing family reasons. Third base coach Mike Quade finished the remainder of the season as manager.[11]

When manager Joe Maddon became a free agent near the end of 2014, the Cubs fired Rick Renteria after only one season to bring Maddon on to lead the club.[12] He was signed to a five-year, $25 million contract.[13] From 2015 through 2019, Maddon led the team to the playoffs four times. He was awarded the 2015 Manager of the Year Award[10] and went on to help the club break its 108-year World Series drought in 2016. Epstein and Maddon announced in a joint press conference in September 2019 that the Cubs would let Maddon's initial five-year contract expire.[14] The team brought on former Cubs catcher David Ross to replace Maddon, signing him to a three-year contract.[15] Though the Cubs gave Ross a contract extension in 2022, the team hired outgoing Milwaukee Brewers manager Craig Counsell after the 2023 season and dismissed Ross.[16]

Table key

# A running total of the number of Cubs managers. Any manager who has two or more separate terms is only counted once.
GM Number of regular season games managed; may not equal sum of wins and losses due to tie games
W Number of regular season wins in games managed
L Number of regular season losses in games managed
Win% Winning percentage: number of wins divided by number of games managed
PA Playoff appearances: number of years this manager has led the franchise to the playoffs
PW Playoff wins: number of wins this manager has accrued in the playoffs
PL Playoff losses: number of losses this manager has accrued in the playoffs
PT Playoff ties: number of ties this manager has accrued in the playoffs
LC League championships: number of League championships, or pennants, achieved by the manager
WS World Series: number of World Series victories achieved by the manager
* Manager acted as interim manager[17]
§ Belonged to the "College of Coaches"[17]
[x] Awarded the Manager of the Year Award during tenure with the Cubs
† or ‡ Elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame (‡ denotes induction as manager or executive)[18]

Managers

Statistics current through the end of the 2024 season

# Image Manager Seasons GM W L Win% PA PW PL PT LC WS Ref
1 Albert Spalding‡ 1876–1877 126 78 47 .624 — — — — 1 — [4]
2 Bob Ferguson 1878 61 30 30 .500 — — — — — — [19]
3 Cap Anson† 1879 64 41 21 .661 — — — — — — [20]
4 Silver Flint 1879 19 5 12 .294 — — — — — — [21]
— Cap Anson† 1880–1897 2194 1242 911 .577 — — — — 5 — [20]
5 Tom Burns 1898–1899 304 160 138 .537 — — — — — — [22]
6 Tom Loftus 1900–1901 286 118 161 .423 — — — — — — [23]
7 Frank Selee‡ 1902–1905 503 280 213 .568 — — — — — — [24]
8 Frank Chance† 1905–1912 1178 768 389 .664 4 11 9 1 4 2 [5][25]
9 Johnny Evers† 1913 155 88 65 .575 — — — — — — [26]
10 Hank O'Day 1914 156 78 76 .506 — — — — — — [27]
11 Roger Bresnahan† 1915 157 73 80 .477 — — — — — — [28]
12 Joe Tinker† 1916 156 67 86 .438 — — — — — — [29]
13 Fred Mitchell 1917–1920 582 308 269 .534 1 2 4 0 1 0 [30][31]
— Johnny Evers† 1921 96 41 55 .427 — — — — — — [26]
14 Bill Killefer 1921–1925 596 300 293 .506 — — — — — — [32]
15 Rabbit Maranville† 1925 53 23 30 .434 — — — — — — [33]
16 George Gibson 1925 26 12 14 .462 — — — — — — [34]
17 Joe McCarthy‡ 1926–1930 770 442 321 .579 1 5 1 0 1 0 [35][36]
18 Rogers Hornsby† 1930–1932 259 141 116 .549 — — — — — — [37]
19 Charlie Grimm 1932–1938 904 534 369 .591 2 5 12 0 2 0 [6][38]
20 Gabby Hartnett† 1938–1940 383 203 176 .536 1 0 4 0 1 0 [39][40]
21 Jimmie Wilson 1941–1944 474 213 258 .452 — — — — — — [41]
22 Roy Johnson* 1944 1 0 1 .000 — — — — — — [42]
— Charlie Grimm 1944–1949 816 406 402 .502 1 3 4 0 1 0 [6][38]
23 Frankie Frisch† 1949–1951 339 141 196 .418 — — — — — — [43]
24 Phil Cavarretta 1951–1953 384 169 213 .442 — — — — — — [44]
25 Stan Hack 1954–1956 465 196 265 .425 — — — — — — [45]
26 Bob Scheffing 1957–1959 465 208 254 .450 — — — — — — [46]
— Charlie Grimm 1960 17 6 11 .353 — — — — — — [6]
27 Lou Boudreau† 1960 139 54 83 .394 — — — — — — [47]
28 Vedie Himsl§ 1961 11 5 6 .455 — — — — — — [48]
29 Harry Craft§ 1961 12 4 8 .333 — — — — — — [49]
— Vedie Himsl§ 1961 17 5 12 .294 — — — — — — [48]
30 El Tappe§ 1961 2 2 0 1.000 — — — — — — [50]
— Harry Craft§ 1961 4 3 1 .750 — — — — — — [49]
— Vedie Himsl§ 1961 4 0 3 .000 — — — — — — [48]
— El Tappe§ 1961 79 35 43 .449 — — — — — — [50]
31 Lou Klein§ 1961 11 5 6 .455 — — — — — — [51]
— El Tappe§ 1961–1962 36 9 27 .250 — — — — — — [50]
— Lou Klein§ 1962 30 12 18 .400 — — — — — — [51]
32 Charlie Metro§ 1962 112 43 69 .384 — — — — — — [52]
33 Bob Kennedy§ 1963–1965 382 182 198 .479 — — — — — — [53]
— Lou Klein§ 1965 106 48 58 .453 — — — — — — [51]
34 Leo Durocher‡ 1966–1972 1065 535 526 .504 — — — — — — [9]
35 Whitey Lockman 1972–1974 319 157 162 .492 — — — — — — [54]
36 Jim Marshall 1974–1976 393 175 218 .445 — — — — — — [55]
37 Herman Franks 1977–1979 479 238 241 .497 — — — — — — [56]
38 Joey Amalfitano* 1979 7 2 5 .286 — — — — — — [57]
39 Preston Gómez 1980 90 38 52 .422 — — — — — — [58]
— Joey Amalfitano 1980–1981 178 64 111 .366 — — — — — — [57]
40 Lee Elia 1982–1983 285 127 158 .446 — — — — — — [59]
41 Charlie Fox* 1983 39 17 22 .436 — — — — — — [60]
42 Jim Frey[b] 1984–1986 379 196 182 .519 1 2 3 0 0 — [61][62]
43 John Vukovich* 1986 2 1 1 .500 — — — — — — [63]
44 Gene Michael 1986–1987 238 114 124 .479 — — — — — — [64]
45 Frank Lucchesi* 1987 25 8 17 .320 — — — — — — [65]
46 Don Zimmer[c] 1988–1991 524 265 258 .507 1 1 4 0 0 — [66][67]
47 Joe Altobelli* 1991 1 0 1 .000 — — — — — — [68]
48 Jim Essian 1991 122 59 63 .484 — — — — — — [69]
49 Jim Lefebvre 1992–1993 324 162 162 .500 — — — — — — [70]
50 Tom Trebelhorn 1994 113 49 64 .434 — — — — — — [71]
51 Jim Riggleman 1995–1999 794 374 419 .472 1 0 3 0 0 — [72][73]
52 Don Baylor 2000–2002 407 187 220 .459 — — — — — — [74]
53 Rene Lachemann* 2002 1 0 1 .000 — — — — — — [75]
54 Bruce Kimm* 2002 78 33 45 .423 — — — — — — [76]
55 Dusty Baker 2003–2006 648 322 326 .497 1 6 6 0 0 — [77][78]
56 Lou Piniella[d] 2007–2010 609 316 293 .519 2 0 6 0 0 — [79][80]
57 Mike Quade 2010–2011 199 95 104 .477 — — — — — — [81]
58 Dale Sveum 2012–2013 324 127 197 .392 — — — — — — [82]
59 Rick Renteria 2014 162 73 89 .451 — — — — — — [83]
60 Joe Maddon[e] 2015–2019 810 471 339 .581 4 19 18 0 1 1 [84]
61 David Ross 2020–2023 546 262 284 .480 1 0 2 0 0 — [85]
62 Craig Counsell 2024–present 324 175 149 .540 — — — — — — [86]

See also

Notes

References

General
Specific
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